Honda commissions fourth assembly line in Karnataka

Shinji Aoyama, chief officer, regional operations (Asia & Oceania), Honda Motor Company on Wednesday said Honda could overtake former partner Hero to become the largest two-wheeler maker in India by 2020.

Aoyama said, "2020 could be a possible year for us to become number one."

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) on Wednesday commissioned the fourth assembly line at its manufacturing facility in Narsapura (Karnataka) turning it into the largest plant among Honda's two-wheeler operations globally. The Narsapura plant can produce 2.4 million two-wheelers annually.

With this latest capacity expansion of 600,000 units, HMSI now has totalled annual production capacity of 6.4 million units across four plants in Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka.

Aoyama informed, "The growing Indian 2W market is top priority for Honda. To better meet dynamic market demand and to prepare for future opportunities, today Honda has inaugurated the fourth assembly line in Karnataka plant. With this, the Narsapura plant will now produce 24 lac two-wheelers annually. This makes Narsapura the world's largest two-wheeler plant for Honda and also India the number one production base for Honda globally."

India now has become the largest production hub for two-wheelers for Honda globally.

In terms of sales, India overtook Indonesia to emerge as the largest market for Honda's two-wheeler operations last fiscal. India contributed 28% to Honda's global two-wheeler sales in the last financial year.
Aoyama informed, "The growing Indian 2W market is top priority for Honda. To better meet dynamic market demand and to prepare for future opportunities, today Honda has inaugurated the fourth assembly line in Karnataka plant.

Louis J. Erickson co-founded the company with me in 2000. We each own 50% of the company. I am the Chief Executive Officer and he is the Chief Operations Officer. Louis and I have been best friends for over 30 years.

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